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<h2>Picture environment</h2>



<pre>

 \begin{picture}(width,height)(x-offset,y-offset)

 ...

  picture commands

 ...

 \end{picture}

</pre>


<p> The picture environment allows you to create just about

    any kind of picture you want containing text, lines, arrows and

    circles. You tell LaTeX where to put things in the

    picture by specifying their coordinates. A coordinate is a

    number that may have a decimal point and a minus sign

    (<tt>-</tt>), for example, 5, 2.3, or -3.1416. A coordinate

    specifies a length in multiples of the unit length <a

            href="unitlength.html"><tt>\unitlength</a></tt>, so if

    <tt>\unitlength</tt> has been set to 1cm, then the coordinate

    2.54 specifies a length of 2.54 centimeters. You can change

    the value of <tt>\unitlength</tt> anywhere you want, using the

    <tt><a href="ltx-88.html">\setlength</a></tt> command, but it

    should be set before the beginning of the picture environment

    since strange things may happen if you try changing it inside

    the picture environment.</p>


<p> A position is a pair of coordinates, such as (2.4,-5),

    specifying the point with x-coordinate = 2.4 and y-coordinate =

    -5. Coordinates are specified in the usual way with

    respect to an origin, which is normally at the lower-left

    corner of the picture. Note that when a position appears as

    an argument, it is not enclosed in braces; the parentheses

    serve to delimit the argument.</p>


<p>The picture environment has one mandatory argument,

    which specifies the size of the picture. The environment

    produces a rectangular box with width and height determined

    by this argument's two values.</p>


<p>The picture environment also has an optional position

    argument, following the size argument, that can change the

    origin. (Unlike ordinary optional arguments, this argument is

    not contained in square brackets.) The optional argument gives

    the coordinates of the point at the lower-left corner of the

    picture (thereby determining the origin). For example, if

    <tt><a href="unitlength.html">\unitlength</a></tt> has been set

    to 1mm, the command</p>



<pre>

 \begin{picture}(100,200)(10,20)

</pre>


<p>produces a picture of width 100 millimeters and

    height 200 millimeters, whose lower-left corner is the point

    (10,20) and whose upper-right corner is therefore the point

    (110,220). Typically one initially omits the optional

    argument, leaving the origin at the lower-left corner. If

    you then want to modify your picture by shifting everything,

    you just add the appropriate optional argument.</p>


<p>The environment's mandatory argument determines the

    nominal size of the picture. This need bear no relation to

    how large the picture really is; LaTeX will happily allow

    you to put things outside the picture, or even off the page.

    The picture's nominal size is used by TeX in determining how

    much room to leave for it.</p>


<p>Everything that appears in a picture is drawn by the

    <tt><a href="ltx-296.html">\put</a></tt> command. The command</p>



<pre>

 \put (11.3,-.3){obj}

</pre>


<p>puts the object specified by <tt>obj</tt> in the picture,

    with its reference point at coordinates (11.3,-.3). The

    reference points for various objects will be described below.</p>


<p>The <tt><a href="ltx-296.html">\put</a></tt> command creates

    an LR box. You can put anything in the text argument of the

    <tt>\put</tt> command that you'd put into the argument of an

    <tt><a href="ltx-265.html">\mbox</a></tt> (or related) command.

    When you do this, the reference point will be the lower left

    corner of the box.</p>


<p>See also</p>


<ul>

    <li><tt><a href="ltx-210.html">\circle</a></tt></li>

    <li><tt><a href="ltx-216.html">\dashbox</a></tt></li>

    <li><tt><a href="ltx-236.html">\frame</a></tt></li>

    <li><tt><a href="ltx-237.html">\framebox</a></tt></li>

    <li><tt><a href="ltx-257.html">\line</a></tt></li>

    <li><tt><a href="ltx-259.html">\linethickness</a></tt></li>

    <li><tt><a href="ltx-262.html">\makebox</a></tt></li>

    <li><tt><a href="ltx-269.html">\multiput</a></tt></li>

    <li><tt><a href="ltx-286.html">\oval</a></tt></li>

    <li><tt><a href="ltx-296.html">\put</a></tt></li>

    <li><tt><a href="ltx-314.html">\shortstack</a></tt></li>

    <li><tt><a href="unitlength.html">\unitlength</a></tt></li>

    <li><tt><a href="ltx-341.html">\vector</a></tt></li>

</ul>


<ul>

    <li><a href="ltx-86.html">Lengths</a>

</ul>


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